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Showcasing agroecological approaches at the World Mountain Forum 2018

06.11.2018

The fourth World Mountain Forum (WMF 2018) took place from 23-26 October 2018, in Bishkek, the Kyrgyz Republic. IFOAM – Organics International, along with Bioservice, Rural Advisory Services in Jalalabat, and the Federation on Organic Development BioKG organized a side event focusing on the drivers of change to improve nutrition in mountain areas.

The event provided an opportunity for World Mountain Forum participants to hear about successful initiatives based on agroecological techniques and understand how these contribute to improving farm resilience and fighting hunger, malnutrition and poverty.

The key note speakers Choduev Erkinbek, Ministry of Agriculture in Kyrgyz Republic and Abid Hussain, ICIMOD, highlighted the necessity of agrobiodiversity and dietary diversity for improved food systems in mountain areas and urged for effective collaboration between sectors and speaking with one voice on nutrition in policy making.

The contributors from Peru, India, Tajikistan, Nepal and Kyrgyzstan shared the local level evidences to improve nutrition through agriculture and talked about diversified and ecological mountain agriculture and consumption. The contributions were also shared during the thematic parallel sessions of the WMF and through posters on display.

During the side event the group of Kyrgyz RSPs, Rural Service Providers, invited participants to taste the traditional, local Kyrgyz food made in mountain areas.

The approaches covered at the event, based on sustainable, nutrition-sensitive agriculture and diversified diets, are worth-scaling-up, as they make a significant contribution to the goals of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025) which calls for accelerated, coordinated, global action on sustainable nutrition for all.